Driven West: Andrew Jackson's Trail of Tears to the Civil War

USC professor of journalism Langguth (Union, 1812) maintains America's first civil war occurred during the 1830s when Andrew Jackson expelled Indian tribes from the Deep South. Recounting the events from 1825 through the Civil War (which forced the Cherokees to choose between North and South), he puts in context the expulsion of the Cherokees from the South and their tragic Trail of Tears. Langguth proceeds through chapters that each focus on one figure in the drama, from John Calhoun to Cherokee chief John Ross. By 1820, wars and draconian peace treaties had already eliminated many Indians from the South. Exhorted by Southern white leaders to move to Oklahoma territory, some complied, but many refused; some became Christian. The end came when Andrew Jackson overcame Northern opposition to the 1830 Indian Removal Act. The army ejected reluctant Indians and with little planning for the long trip, 25%–50% percent of the 50,000 deportees died of disease and starvation. Readers of this engrossing, profoundly depressing history may not consider the fight over Indian removal civil war, but few will doubt that it represents a bitter North–South conflict in which the bad guys won. B&w photos. (Nov.)